Nevermore
by BlackBlood12
Summary: Natsu was never found by Makarov. Instead, he was found and experimented on by a magical research facility deep in the mountains. By a twist of fate he manages to escape, but after months of torture he's left bitter and cynical towards the world. How will humanity take it when a new chaos dragon slayer emerges? Dark!Natsu.


_Chapter 1:_

Natsu didn't like his cell. Compared to the others, his was small, damp and far more disgusting than it should of been. There was no furniture and only darkness for company. Many a time had Natsu spoken to the shadows, pretending them to be a loved one for the sake of filling the empty void in his heart. The little light present was natural, coming through the slit-window high above. It was so thin that he doubted his hand would go through, and so high up that even a fully grown adult wouldn't be able to touch it without difficulty.

When night would come around, the light would disappear, and Natsu would be left in the dark by himself – something that no amount of talking could fix.

The loved the light far more than the darkness. It would always remind him of the scarlet flames Igneel could make, even if it was more white than orange. Unfortunately, it never provided warmth for Natsu, which is what he hated most about his cell. It was _always_ cold; a coldness that left his fingertips in a state of numbness and feet raw and chapped. At night, it was always colder, and shivers would rack through his body uncontrollable .

More than once he had caught something in his dark, dank cell. An illness; an infection – it didn't matter. But every time, he always had to endure - for Igneel. He would come and save him, he knew it – _believed _it– because Igneel was his father, and fathers protect their children at all costs. He couldn't wait for the day Igneel beat them to a pulp, that'd teach them a lesson.

So he sat there, back against the wall, staring expectedly at the window opposite, waiting for the moment a dragon's roar would break the silence. Outside, he could hear the trees swaying in the cold wind, and bird chirping as they flew past. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to be outside – it must of been nice, not to have any restraint on where you could go. He knew it was almost time for his training, having glanced at the pillar of light on the floor. He'd quickly learned that when the light from the window pointed at the door, it was time for the experiments.

He didn't like the experiments.

They were hard and they hurt and they always made him ache for days. They were nothing like his previous training methods, where he'd be taught a spell and would have to repeat it until perfection. Instead, they simply stood and talked nonsense to one another, not giving Natsu a second glance as they fired lightning through is body. It didn't matter to them, he assumed, whether he lived or died.

As expected, the clunky sound of footsteps came from down the corridor, slowly making its way towards his cell. He stood up slowly, still in pain from yesterday, and waited at the front of the door like he was supposed to.

The footsteps drew closer, until eventually the door swung open. Two hooded figures stood side by side at the door way, their faces masked and their stance tall. He suppressed a gulp, somehow knowing that this was going to be a particularly bad session. Perhaps it was the tensed muscles, or how they stood slightly straighter, but he just _knew. _

They entered his cell with difficulty, just managing to flank either side of him in the limited space. Both of them grabbed his biceps, before steering him out the room. They walked slowly, with long strides, which somehow made Natsu feel worse about what was about to happen. It was as if his guards pitied him, their touch being as light as a feather against his muddy skin.

They took several twists and turns, going up spiral staircases and down corridors, until they stood in front of the oh so very familiar double doors. Even if Natsu had never been here before, it would've been painfully obvious that they lead to something important – or, in this case – terrifying. Because unlike the less than mediocre ones used on prison cells, these were grandeur, made of dark wood and inscribed with intricate patterns. Natsu had always wondered what they all meant – whether it was a story or just simply symbols with no meaning – he didn't know.

Not stopping for even a moment, the two guards let go of his arms, leaving him to stand patiently as they shoved the planes of wood open. They gave out an almighty groan as they opened, and Natsu took in a deep, shaking breath to calm his nerves.

He saw what he always saw: a single, metal table. Beyond that was a long strip of tinted glass; just enough so that Natsu could see silhouettes, but not features. He had no doubt that they could see him perfectly, though. Both the walls and the floor were lined with metal.

Several seconds went by - but Natsu couldn't bring himself to move. It was just too painful to think about what they were going to do.

"Get in, kid," The guard of the left whispered frantically, "or else they'll hurt you even more!" Natsu wasn't dumb enough to think it was kindness – if it was, then why force him into a room where he could very nearly die. Never the less, it jerked Natsu out of his paralysis. He inhaled sharply, and with shaking steps he walked into the room.

Behind him he heard the thick doors shut, but his gaze remained locked on the plane of glass. He counted eight bodies in total, all of them – he assumed – having their gaze set intently on him. Forcing his legs to move, he pushed himself on to the table before laying his tattered back against the metal.

He stared up at the barely visible ceiling (the room was several stories high) with hatred; hatred originating from how they'd managed to contain him in this building. A crimson sun hung from the ceiling, directly above Natsu, with its face twisted into a wicked expression: large, circular eyes; stars for pupils; a sneering mouth.

He'd heard some of them discussing about how they'd 'raised his magic power exponentially,' whatever that meant. Natsu himself didn't believe it, having not used magic for what felt like months. The cause of which was unknown to Natsu, but he no doubt guessed that there was a magic sucking crystal in the building.

There was a crackling to his left, and someone began to speak through a microphone: "test subject –7, experiment number – 274. Begin."

Muscles involuntarily clenched as the faint hum of machinery past his ears, coming from inside the walls and far above him. Creaking gears could be heard as the star-shaped pupils began to glow a ferocious yellow. Bright purple sparks - that seemed to come out of nowhere - racked the star's body, gathering in the pupils and making the light shine even brighter than before.

For several minutes it went on like this, until eventually, the light erupted. Tendrils of streaking red lightning bursted forth from the sun's eyes, bouncing off the walls and coursing downwards. Natsu squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the pain.

It didn't help.

It was like someone was driving a knife into his body wherever the lightning would strike. In moments he was screaming frantically, withering on the table as electricity coursed through his body. The extreme pain from the lightning would last for only seconds at most, but the dull ache would always follow afterwards, and that would last for days.

He wasn't sure how long they carried this on for, but at one point a particularly harsh tendril had hit the side of his neck, causing his screams to turn into choking. He lurched forward; lungs contracting painfully and mouth opened wide as if he was about to vomit. Nothing came out, but the shock made his eyes roll back into his head as he fell back on to the table, unconscious.

When he regained consciousness again, the first thing he noticed was the pain. It was unforgettable - the worst it's ever been - and he couldn't help the whimper that escaped his lips. None of his muscles could move, but he could hear the Doctors talking perfectly.

"- the nature of his magic's changed, sir, we think proceeding to the next level would be dangerous…" A woman said, trailing off at the end, making Natsu think she was probably waiting for someone else to reply.

"I see… how interesting…" A deep voice replied.

"What should we do, sir?" The woman asked.

There was a cold laugh – shrilled and cruel to the ear. "Put him back in his cell - and tell the guards to keep watch for any signs of consciousness."

"Yes, sir" The woman replied, before he fell back into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>The next time he regain consciousness, there was silence. Something cold was pressed up against his back, and he could tell he'd been propped up against the wall. Someone was breathing lightly to his left– a guard, no doubt. His muscles still ached, but considerably less so than before. His neck felt stiff; his throat felt parched.<p>

Trying not to attract any attention to himself, he began to tilt his head slightly to the side. An incredibly sharp pain coursed through his neck – the same place the tendril had hit during the procedure. He tried to surpass the gasp in pain, but fail miserably. He prayed that the guard didn't hear, but a split second later there was a sound of rustling clothes and the next thing he knew he was being shaken awake.

"Hey, kid, get up!" He remembered that voice – it was the guard from before, who had told him to go in. Natsu wasn't sure what he should do: proceed to act like he was still unconscious, or open his eyes and reveal that he was awake.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, kid," the man said, and for some reason Natsu found himself trusting the voice – or at least enough to crack his eyes open a fraction of a centimetre.

For one time only in his imprisonment, he finally got a good look at the person. His mask had been taken off and laid on the ground a few feet away, the hood which once obscured his vision had been pulled Natsu's eyes the man looked young, with rustic brown hair and eyes, probably having just finished adolescence. Stubble was visible on his chin and jaw line, and his skin was mildly tanned in the light. A look of concern was plastered on his face – concern for him, for his well-being.

He saw the man turned around to grab something, before turning back to face Natsu again.

"Drink this," He said simply, placing a bowl to his lips.

Despite his natural instincts telling him it was dangerous -was it from a stranger, it could be poison! - He allowed himself to take in the drink greedily. It tasted incredibly, spicy and sweet at the same time, but was cold in his mouth – something he didn't like.

His tense muscles relax slightly, the drink soothing his innards, and Natsu opened his eyes up fully. He felt more alive, which made him thing the drink had been spiked with something– herbs of some kind, probably.

"Who are you?" Natsu wheezed out, pushing himself of the wall. His rigid muscles felt numb from coldness, and his movements were sluggish and weak.

"It doesn't matter," the man said quickly, his voice deeply gruff. Once again he turned to pick something up from behind him; this time the thing looked to be a paste. He leaned forward, scooping a liberal amount of the mixture on to his fingers.

"Can I?" He asked, seeing Natsu wince ever so slightly. Natsu sent the man a curious, yet calculating, look, but allowed him all the same.

"I'm sorry," the man said sincerely, lathering the stuff on the side of Natsu's neck. It stung slightly, but he took it as a good sign.

The man continued, "What they're doing to you – to all of you – is horrible."

He trailed off, and Natsu saw the look of remorse on his face. "It's fine," Natsu said finally, getting a surprised look from the brown-haired man, "Igneel'll beat them all up good when he comes."

The man frowned, "whose Igneel?"

Natsu grinned, "My dad – he's a fire dragon. Bet he'll burn this place down to the ground once he finds it – which'll be any day now."

The man's frown deepened, "Kid," he began, sending Natsu a weary look. "You've been here for nine months".

Natsu's eyes narrowed, "You lying."

"Kid, I know it may be hard to belie-"the man began, but Natsu didn't want to hear what he had to say; he wanted the man gone.

"Shut up," He whispered, barely audible to his own ears.

"-but I don't think this Igneel fellow –" He _really_ didn't want him to say what he thought he was about to say. Partially because it wasn't true – it _couldn't_ be true - but partly because it was his first thought as well.

"I said _shut up,_" he said a little louder, malice finding its way into his voice.

"- is gonna come and get – "

"SHUT UP!" He screamed, and it was an invisible force shot out of him. The man to recoiled in shock, but was immediately push back afterwards, slamming into the closed door with a loud bang. Utensils went sprawling across the floor, some of which were broken; some of which were fine. His entire room gave out a low groan, with small amounts of dust falling hazardously from the ceiling.

The man looked shockingly over at Natsu, who had begun to let out small sobs that were barely audible. The man was about to move forward, but the second he moved Natsu screamed again:

"GO AWAY!" his voice faltered and broke at the end, but the room shook slightly more vigorously than before. It was enough to convince the man that Natsu did not want his comfort.

A moment later and Natsu heard the door open and close. It was several second later before he finally broke down. A cross between wailing and crying, he lay sprawled across the floor, digging and clawing at the stone floor until his fingers bled. He screamed for Igneel – for his dad – to come and get him, but nothing changed. Eventually he calmed down enough to stop the deranged screams, but even then, the tears carried on falling, until he eventually fell back to sleep.

* * *

><p>The third time Natsu awoke, he was not welcomed by voices of his torturer or the silence of his cell, but instead with screams. High and terror –filled, they were, with none of them being coherent to Natsu.<p>

His eyes widened at the sound, and the first thing he noticed was that door had been broken down - something that he had never, _ever, _seen happen before. The cold was the second thing he noticed – or lack thereof. He felt warm –comfortably warm. Incoherently warm. The third and final thing he noticed was the faint, orange glow from down the left side corridor, visible through the open door.

He could hear it crackling.

He would notice that glow anywhere.

Fire; his heart surged – had Igneel come?

He leaped to his feet, running toward the open door. Taking a quick moment to look down the left corridor – indeed, it was fire; he could see the guards trying desperately to put it out on the other side - he shot down the opposite corridor.

He ran as fast as he could, at one point slipping down the spiral staircase. Both hands shot out, trying to stop him from falling down the stairs, while his knee slammed painfully into the stone. It ended with both of his palms being peeled away of skin, and his knee no doubt gaining a hefty bruise. He bit back a shout in pain, biting the inside of his cheek to do so.

He stumbled back on to his feet, and, ignoring the pain in his hands and knees, set off down the staircase again. It felt like it went on forever, but he carried on going downwards until he reached the very end.

He ran into the room, only to leap back in alarm. Standing there were several guards, all of which seemed to preoccupied at the moment to of taken notice of Natsu

Yet.

They were shouting orders at different people Natsu couldn't see, with one of them equipped with a bucket of sorts. Directly opposite his place, Natsu saw something that made a wide grin spread across his face. The entire wall had been blown away, to show the thing he had wanted to see for a while.

Outside.

It looked cold, yes, with the ground stained in white snow and the trees inked black in the morning light. The grove of trees was a little ways off, easily reachable, but would offer no coverage – he'd be an easy target. A chain of mountains were in the far distance, pale blue to his eyes. He could feel the cold wind on his face, which usually would've been undesirable, but this time it was incredible.

Not even bothering to be discrete, he shot past the three men, none of which even took a glance in his direction. He felt a rush of relief when he passed the third and final one, willing himself to go even faster before his luck ran out.

His face broke into a desperate smile as he raced towards the opening.

_5 metres… 3 metres… 1 metre…_

"Hey, you!" One of the guards shouted. Natsu froze at the voice, jumping viciously.

For a single, split second he frozen – he'd been caught. If the managed to get a hold of him again, he'd never escape - they'd move him and Igneel would have to spend even more time looking for him.

He shot off at an even faster sprint, begging his legs to hold out a little longer. He felt his feet come on to bare contact with the snow; painfully cold, it was, but he endued, like he always had. If anything, he sped up at the contact, running toward the grove of trees up ahead, where the snow turned into soil and bark.

"Wait!" the guard screamed from behind; angry and cruel to the ears. He reached the grove of trees, not risking a glance behind him. A moment later, the sound of crunching snow caught his ear.

Someone was following him.

He ran, the muscles in his legs screaming for him to stop – but he couldn't. Bony branches reached out, clawing at his face without mercy. His lungs were burning from excessive use, making his breath come out as raspy gasps.

_He would not go back to that place, no matter what_, he repeated to himself. It kept him going, fuelling his wish to escape. He must find Igneel – must, must, must.

The forest was disturbed by his carelessness: twigs snapped underneath; branches swiped out-of-the-way. The floor was uneven, but he could tell that they were going up towards the mountains. He leaped from a thick mound into a wet creek, where tall earthen walls blockaded him in. He ran to the right, not caring which way he went, with icy water slopped against his ankles. He felt so very cold it was unbelievable.

He was no longer sure whether he was being followed or not, but he had to stop – for water, for rest. Slowing down to a considerably slow walk, he took in greedy gulps of air. The walls blocking his path eventually dissipated enough for him to climb up and out of the water, with him flopping on the rich soil in exhaustion.

His legs hurt too much for him to stand on any more, so he crawled toward the creek's edge with the intent on cleaning up and drinking. When he finally saw his reflection, he gasped.

Having not seen his reflection in a while, Natsu had to admit to even himself that he needed a good bath. His spiky hair was matted in dust and mud, yet still retained its usual style. Bruises adored his left cheek and upper right eyebrow, with them being barely visible underneath a thick layer of grime and muck. His clothes were little more than rags that survived the trees on slaughter.

But two things caught his noticed far more than any of these things. The first was his hair: once a bright, salmon pink, it had become red - dark red; blood-red. He found himself liking this colour more than his previous one, which had often been the subject of jokes between him and Igneel. The second was how muscled he looked, even after nine months of no training whatsoever.

Had this happened because of those experiments? Had his hair changed and his muscles stayed because of them? He'd never know. What he did know, however, was that he needed a bath. Before he could so much as move, however, someone called out from behind him.

"Wait…!" The guard wheezed, losing its particular edge.

Natsu's eyes widened. He whirled around to see a rather large man stumbling towards him, his face set into what could've only been pure loathing.

"You little bastard," he groaned, taking in greedy gulps of air.

Natsu heard him suck in a deep breath, before lunging forward with the aim of grabbing hold of him. Natsu, reacting almost automatically, threw his fist out with a surprised yell, hoping to catch the man off guard.

And that he did.

A jet of bright blue fire shot out of his clenched knuckles, hitting the man straight in the face. The man bellowed in pain, both hand moving up to cover his face. He completely forgot about catching Natsu, and only a single glance - a glimpse underneath – told Natsu why.

The guard's entire face had been burned severely. With the skin being blistered and peeled away by the attack, and his hair charred right off the top of his head, he looked quite a lot like a living corpse. Several patched off the face had been completely burned away, to reveal white bone underneath.

The poor man wailed in agony, twisting and running around in circles before eventually falling flat on his face. Natsu wasn't sure whether the man was dead or alive, but he didn't want to find out.

Natsu fell back in shock of what he'd just done… what had he just done? There was no doubt that fire – _his_ fire – had done this to the man, but he'd never managed to make something like that before. Plus the fact that the flame had been blue and white – _his_ fire was orange and red, not _blue_.

_What going on?_ Natsu thought to himself, staring wide-eyed at the decrepit body. His though then went on to what he'd heard a while ago – they'd 'raised his magic power exponentially.' Did that mean that _this_ was the all the effect of those experiments. Had his magic power increased that much?

Now that he thought about it, he could feel a lot more magical power radiating from his bo-

A large explosion light up the entire forest. Natsu's head whipped round to look behind him, where the origins of the explosion had come. He spotted a Cliff-side through the foliage, a little distance away, and slowly crawled towards it, stopping momentarily to do a half crouch – half jump across the small creek.

The closer he got, the more he noticed the eerie glow beneath the cliff. The more he noticed the smoke filling the air, making his eyes sting and his throat itch. The more he noticed the chunky embers hanging in the air, and that faint sound of crackling fire.

His eyes widened when he reached the edge, with him having to suppress a gasp in surprise.

From this distance, he could see where he had been held captive. It looked like it was the remnants of a castle, but by now it was little more than rubble. It was crumbling in front of his very eyes, with crimson and golden fire blazed on top of the pile of bricks, twisting in the cold wind to reach like bony fingers for the moon.

Natsu felt his gaze turn to the skies, looking – hoping – for the sight he'd been wishing to see since he got there.

Igneel.

But no matter how hard he searched, nor how much he hoped, he couldn't see him anywhere. His thoughts trailed back to the man who had tried to help him. _You've been here for nine months_, he'd said – what if that was true?

It was as if something had snapped deep inside of him, and everything seemed to fit into place.

"No," he whispered shakily to himself. He'd been caught because Igneel had left him to go on a hunting trip, but they'd been plenty of food for Natsu – more than enough.

"It's not possible," his voice cracked. He been left alone for several weeks –assuming that Igneel had gone to a different forest to hunt – but even then, it wouldn't have taken that long to get home.

"He wouldn't have," the phrase played back in his mind: _You've been here for nine months._ In all that time Igneel could've easily saved him, but he hadn't. A sharp pain went through his chest at the truth: Igneel had left him.

Abandoned him.

Betrayed him.

Igneel didn't care for him.

The thought made Natsu's eyes sting - his only family was gone. But at that moment, something else flooded his systems, something that made him feel comfortably warm again. He knew what it was: anger, rage, hatred. This is what it felt like. His arm muscles tensed, his fingers dug into the soft soil, balling into tight fists.

Silent tears fell down his face, but not because of pain or sadness, but because of anger. He felt his magic build within him, pushing against their restraints, wanting to be released. He screamed. It was loud and ferocious, like that of a dragon's. The air around him was superheated as bright blue flames exploded from his body – a whirlpool of destruction in the morning's light. It caressed his skin, drying and cracking the mud away. It licked against his limbs, willing the fatigue to leave.

Even from here, Natsu could feel their will for destruction. His muscles relaxed; he stood up slowly, arms lying limp at his side, glaring at the crimson fire below.

For a second he stood there, enjoying the embrace of the blazing fire, before he clenched both hands into fist concurrently. Once a whirlpool of flames, it became a maelstrom, exploding from his body. Trees where disintegrated if too close, while the water from the creek boiled viciously.

These weren't the flames of a fire dragon.

These were the flames of a chaos dragon.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, its been a while since I posted anything on fairy tail's fandom. So long, in fact, that I can't even remember what they were all called - Bittersweet revenge and something else, I think... can't be sure... hmm...<strong>

**I can't wait for the next chapter to come out, though! It looks so cool! I really hope Natsu turns out to be E.N.D (strong believer in this stuff!) and that he completely overpowers Gray (tee-hee.) Loads of Gray fans'll probably hate if that happens, but I'm a Natsu fan so I want him to be BAMF, especially since people carry saying he's a terrible character - he's not a terrible character!**

**By the way, I really cannot judge my own work, so I'll leave it to you guys to favourite, follow and review. Reviews are like my power source, just to be clear - the more you feed me the quicker I'll probably update (for some reason favouriting and following doesn't really do much, though I think it might be because all you get is a message, never feedback.) Essentially just tell me what I need to improve and what I did well - and if there are any spelling mistake or any areas that didn't really make sense, also put that in.**

**Till then, **


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